By: Emma Best, SFU Student
The Mandalorian is the best thing to happen to the Star Wars franchise since Star Wars: A New Hope (Episode IV) (1977). This show is a spaghetti western in space, filled with desert planet shootouts, a smooth score by Ludwig Göransson, and The Mandalorian as a Clint Eastwood-like gunslinger. It’s also sprinkled with the same Star Wars charm seen in the original trilogy and happens to feature the cutest sidekick since baby groot. Taking place five years after the events of Return of the Jedi, in a galaxy post-Vader and his empire, it stars Pedro Pascal as its titular Mandalorian — an unnamed bounty hunter from the now inhabitable planet of Mandalore. However, it was his smaller co-star the Child, colloquially dubbed Baby Yoda for the resemblance to Yoda, that helped get the show trending overnight when it first premiered last fall.
I’ll admit, I wasn’t expecting to become invested in this show; but once the final episode of season one aired last December of last year, I spent all 10 months (not so) patiently waiting for the next season — which thankfully began on October 30 and did not disappoint.
The first season found the Mandalorian with a target on his back, after collecting a mysterious bounty ordered by a similarly mysterious client (Werner Herzog) — that bounty being Baby Yoda. But season two finds him searching for the home of Baby Yoda, looking first for other Mandalorians that he believes will help him find his way.
The Mandalorian continues to integrate all the best bits of Star Wars lore, mixed together in just the right quantities to make a perfect Star Wars cocktail. The show also manages to emulate the Star Wars feeling without entirely relying on nostalgia. While a bit of nostalgia is nice and makes watching films and TV shows feel like seeing an old friend, it can also diminish any originality within a story or affect the pre-existing canon. I found this to be a problem in the sequel trilogy that began with The Force Awakens in 2015. By relying too heavily on the past main characters Luke, Leia, and Han, fresh protagonists Rey, Kylo, Finn, and Poe weren’t able to fully stretch their legs and were overshadowed by their predecessors.
We are still given references to Star Wars canon (from wipe transitions between scenes to the new but familiar face of Baby Yoda) and easter eggs are sprinkled throughout The Mandalorian. There are also theories that Boba Fett will appear in season two, but none of this is nearly enough to negatively affect the plot of the show. It’s a smart way to connect to the original films as well as delve deeper into an aspect of them without directly affecting the pre-existing canon. This is especially true with the second season diving into Baby Yoda’s origin.
The use of practical effects in the show is also one of my favourite things about it. Having watched many TV shows and movies that rely too heavily on CGI (the prequel trilogy for example), it’s refreshing to see the use of prosthetic makeup, set design, and puppets throughout this show. Baby Yoda could’ve easily ended up as a horrible computer-generated nightmare — think Jar Jar Binks. However, by largely using a mix of puppetry and animatronics, we get the same charm and magic of the first films and the effects they used back in 1977 when large sets were actually oil matte paintings, and droids R2D2 and C3PO had real actors walking around in their suits.
Since the acquisition in 2012, some have criticized Disney for “ruining” Star Wars. And while I too was disappointed by how the sequel trilogy ended with The Rise of Skywalker last December, I think this TV show can be seen as a new hope for the future of Star Wars. The best thing since the original films, it’s stepping outside of recycled plot lines about Skywalkers and Jedi. This breathes fresh air into new plots that take place in a universe we are familiar with, following characters that we are unfamiliar with. Finding that perfect balance broadens its possibilities for future episodes and opens the doors to new viewers — even those who aren’t hardcore Star Wars fans. With its new season now premiering week by week on Disney+, Star Wars fan or not, this show is definitely worth the watch.
